Mandella pair possible for Chillingworth

DEL MAR, Calif. - The Grade 1 winner Tamara and possibly Kopion, a two-time Grade 1 winner since Christmas, are candidates for the Grade 3 Chillingworth Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 4.

The $100,000 Chillingworth could serve as a prep race for Kopion and Tamara for the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint at Del Mar on Nov. 1, trainer Richard Mandella said.

Tamara, who won the Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante in 2023, has not raced since she finished second by a nose in an allowance race at Del Mar last November, her lone start of 2024. She was scratched from the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita last December and later sidelined after sustaining an injury that required surgery. Kopion won the La Brea.

Mandella had hoped to start Tamara in an allowance race in the final weeks of the Del Mar summer meeting that ended on Sunday, but the race failed to draw sufficient entries.

The $100,000 Chillingworth at 6 1/2 furlongs is the final stakes for the division in California before the BC Filly and Mare Sprint.

“I’ll train her up to the Chillingworth,” Mandella said. “Hopefully, she’ll win it and we won’t have to worry about getting into the Breeders’ Cup.”

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Plans for Kopion are less certain, though Mandella said she could run in the Chillingworth.

Kopion won three sprint stakes for fillies and mares at Santa Anita and Churchill Downs from late December to early May, a streak that included the La Brea Stakes, and the Grade 1 Derby City Distaff at seven furlongs at Churchill Downs in May.

Kopion has been second in her last two starts - to BC Filly and Mare Sprint contender Sweet Azteca in the Grade 2 Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos on July 5 and to BC Distaff contender Seismic Beauty in the Grade 1 Clement Hirsch Stakes at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 2.

“There is a good chance I’ll train her up to the Breeders’ Cup, unless I decide to run in the Chillingworth,” Mandella said of Kopion.

Both Kopion and Tamara are owned by Spendthrift Farm.

The Mandella-trained stakes winner Big City Lights recently resumed workouts after being turned out for several months earlier this year.

Mandella cautioned this week that Big City Lights is at the start of his return.

“He won’t be ready to run for a while,” he said.

A 6-year-old horse, Big City Lights has won 7 of 13 starts and earned $578,420, including sprint stakes wins against California-breds in his last two starts– by 8 1/2 lengths in the Cary Grant Stakes at Del Mar last November, and the California Cup Sprint by 7 3/4 lengths at Santa Anita in December.

Big City Lights, who races for William Peeples, was sidelined earlier this year because of concern over the condition of a knee, Mandella said at the time. Big City Lights worked three furlongs in 35.40 seconds at Del Mar on Tuesday.

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